<figure id="attachment_455283" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-455283" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="5cc9c315"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/01/4c4edb0b44cd17b32498003cfa253c37-1.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-455283" class="wp-caption-text">Suntory&#8217;s &#8220;Horoiyoi&#8221; commercial character is actress Nanase Nishino (31). Photo from the company&#8217;s website.</figcaption></figure>
<h3> What comes after the &#8220;Strong Boom?</h3>
<p> The long-lasting &#8220;Strong Boom&#8221; is coming to an end. In 2012, Asahi Breweries and Sapporo Breweries made a decision that caused a stir in the beverage industry.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In the year 2012, Asahi Breweries and Sapporo Breweries made a decision that caused a stir in the beverage industry: &#8220;One after another, they decided not to launch new canned chu-hi products of the so-called &#8216;strong boom&#8217; type (with an alcohol content of 8% or more). In addition, major beverage makers such as Suntory and Kirin Brewery are also reducing their lineups of Strong-type beverages.</span><br>
<span class="strongInContent"> There are two major factors behind this.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> One is the spread of &#8220;smart drinking&#8221; advocated by Asahi Breweries in &#8217;20. This term, which refers to a way of drinking in which people freely choose the number and type of alcohol (including non-alcoholic and micro-alcoholic) according to their physical constitution and the occasion, has become common, leading to an increase in health-conscious young people who prefer ″low alcohol″ and ″sugar-free″ drinks. In addition, in 2009, the government asked companies to consider clearly indicating the amount of pure alcohol on the container, and this led to an increase in consumers who were concerned about their alcohol intake, which accelerated the shift away from &#8220;Strong&#8221; in the RTD industry&#8221; (trade journalist).</span></p>
<p> RTD stands for &#8220;ready to drink,&#8221; and refers to alcoholic beverages other than beer that can be drunk immediately after opening, such as canned chuhai, canned cocktails, and canned highballs. Uncle Strong,&#8221; a canned chuhai researcher who drinks more than 1,000 RTDs a year, also declares the end of the boom.</p>
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> For middle-aged people like me, it is difficult to drink several bottles of Strong-type beverages a day. For middle-aged people like me, it is difficult to drink several bottles of Strong&#8217;s a day. I feel that plain sours, which are not too sweet and have a good body, are just right for me. Uncle Strong&#8217; is now becoming &#8216;Uncle Plain.&#8217; &#8230;&#8230;</span></p>
<p> Suntory, the biggest seller of RTDs in Japan, has been the most sensitive to this trend and has successfully changed its brand.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In January 2012, Suntory changed its brand name from &#8220;-196°C&#8221; to &#8220;-196°C&#8221; by removing the &#8220;°C&#8221; from the &#8220;-196°C&#8221; brand. The name &#8220;-196°C&#8221; is synonymous with &#8220;-196°C Strong Zero,&#8221; known by the nickname &#8220;Strong Zero,&#8221; and just by looking at it, one associates it with the Strong type. The name change was intended to dispel this image.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In 1924, we launched the new &#8220;-196 Sugar Free&#8221; and the renewed &#8220;-196 Strong Zero,&#8221; and in 1925 we introduced the &#8220;-196&#8221; series of plain sours with the same name as the brand. The &#8220;-196&#8243; series has been selling well, with the fastest RTD sales volume in the last 20 years topping 20 million bottles,&#8221; said the company&#8217;s president.</span></p>
<p> Suntory also boasts the No. 1 plain sour &#8220;Kodawari Sour Taco Hai,&#8221; the No. 1 highball &#8220;Kaku Highball,&#8221; the No. 1 gin soda &#8220;Midori Gin Soda,&#8221; and the No. 1 low-alcohol chu-hi &#8220;Horoyoi,&#8221; showing its strength in each category.</p>
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
<p> In order to put a stop to Suntory&#8217;s monopoly, rival companies are now searching for a new &#8220;supreme drink.</p>
<p> Kirin, the second largest company in the industry, is following the lead of Suntory, and is the leader in the &#8220;unsweetened&#8221; genre, which is in growing demand. &#8230;&#8230;</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Kirin&#8217;s strength is that it has the number one brand of chu-hai, Hyoketsu. Combining this with the growing health consciousness, Kirin launched &#8220;Hyoketsu Unsweetened&#8221; in 2008, which created an era. However, it is currently being overtaken by Suntory&#8217;s &#8220;-196 Unsweetened.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Hyoketsu Unsweetened&#8221; adds only one new flavor a year and a few limited-time-only flavors. On the other hand, &#8220;-196 Unsweetened&#8221; has been expanded to more than 10 flavors, including limited time offerings, in less than a year since its launch. Gin Soda Moronokoro&#8221; and &#8220;Huayoi,&#8221; which were launched to compete with Suntory&#8217;s &#8220;Midori Gin Soda&#8221; and &#8220;Horoyoi,&#8221; have also been unsuccessful.</span></p>
<div class="expapp-no-provided-scope expapp-no-provided-scope-start"></div>
<p><a href="https://friday.kodansha.co.jp/article/455235"> (Reporter) [Part 2] Will the &#8220;champion&#8221; Suntory win the battle? RTD &#8220;canned chu-hi and highball&#8221; industry: The battle for the &#8220;best drink</a></p>
<div class="expapp-no-provided-scope expapp-no-provided-scope-end"></div>
<figure id="attachment_455288" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-455288" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="ba0d932b"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/01/e2069bd339188d0f0b6e5c13f31bfb1f.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-455288" class="wp-caption-text"> Actress Yu Aoi (40) plays the role of the &#8220;4th generation shopkeeper&#8221; in Suntory&#8217;s &#8220;Kaku Highball&#8221; commercial. Photo from the company&#8217;s website.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_455289" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-455289" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="ec8c8a57"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/01/5085906db8932797287140074a2ba243-2.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-455289" class="wp-caption-text"> Actress Mitsuki Takahata (34) appeared in a commercial for Kirin&#8217;s &#8220;Hyoketsu,&#8221; which was renewed in 2011. Photo from the company&#8217;s website.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_455290" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-455290" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="ee0dee2e"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/01/a346db224912ce93b6b2fc9eaeafdf9a-2.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-455290" class="wp-caption-text"> Actress Wakana Matsumoto (41) and actor Shotaro Mamiya (32) appear in a commercial for Kirin&#8217;s Hon Shibori. Photo from the company website</figcaption></figure>
<p><a href="#" data-ident_hash="7d30c6f1"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/01/4bfd8b732d17cc16fdfadb0dce5e397d.jpg" alt=""></a></p>
<p> From the January 30/February 6, 2026 issue of &#8220;FRIDAY</p>


 As the long-lasting "Strong Boom" is coming to an end, the RTD industry is searching for a "supreme drink. The second largest company in the industry, Kirin, is following in the footsteps of the "champion" Suntory, which was quick to change its brand...

 Latest Business Report [Part 1

Research on the RTD &#8220;Canned Chuhai &#038; High-ball&#8221; Industry&#8230;! Suntory&#8217;s &#8220;The Best of the Best&#8221;: The Companies&#8217; Aim to &#8220;Beat Suntory

Research on the RTD “Canned Chuhai & High-ball” Industry…! Suntory’s “The Best of the Best”: The Companies’ Aim to “Beat Suntory

Access Ranking